Brandan Bidois Becomes First Australian to Play for Pirates, Ready to Build Off Debut
PITTSBURGH — For the first time in franchise history, an Australian-born player appeared in a game for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Brandan Bidois made his debut for the Pirates in their 10-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park on Wednesday, becoming just the 40th player from Australia to play in the big leagues.
“It was super special,” he said of his debut. “Throughout the game, had a lot of phone calls to the bullpen and every time your heart just kind of drops and sinks out of your stomach. But nah, it was great.”
Bidois took the mound for the top of the eighth inning. He allowed a leadoff double to Mickey Moniak before inducing a groundball out against Tyler Freeman. Moniak, who advanced on Freeman’s groundout, was picked off third base by catcher Henry Davis.
With two outs, TJ Rumfield hit a solo homer to right field on a 3-2 pitch over the plate, but Bidois rebounded to retired Troy Johnston on a flyout to left field to end his first big-league inning.
The 24-year-old admitted the first-game jitters got to him, but he was still able to keep enough composure to record the first three outs of his career.
“I was pretty focused on what I had to do,” he said. “Just going through [Davis] and sticking through him. It was hard not to look up every now and again and just see where I am, but I went out with a job and I feel like I did it.”
Bidois featured three pitches — a four-seam fastball that averaged 97.2 mph and topped out at 98.6 mph — a slider and a changeup. He threw 14 pitches in total and 10 for strikes.
‘He’s got really good stuff,” manager Don Kelly said following the game. “I think we saw what he’s capable of doing, throwing in the upper-90s and the slider is really legit.”
It was an emotional day for Bidois. Not only did he play in his first MLB game, but his mom made the long flight from Australia to be in attendance. The two were able to share a moment on the field together before the game, his first time seeing her in over two years.
“It’s really great,” Bidois said of having his mom in Pittsburgh. “It’s hard with 24 hour notice going to the big leagues when you’re living on the other side of the world. You just have to scramble.”
Now that his first one is behind him, Bidois is ready to build off his initial shot with the Pirates. He’s confident his next time out of the bullpen will feel a little bit more normal.
“That first one is never easy. Your heart’s racing,” he said. “Everything’s going a million miles an hour, but just being able to slow the game down, I think that’s going to be the key for the next one.”
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